Brooklyn Texting While Driving Accidents

Texting While Driving – It’s Against the Law

In New York State, using a hand-held phone to make a call, send a text, send an email, or for any other non-emergency activity while driving is against the law. But that doesn’t stop people from doing it. In 2012, the state police issued over 30,000 tickets for texting while driving, up over 200% from the year before (and that figure is believed to be still rising).

Nationally, over 3,300 people were killed in 2011 in vehicle accidents blamed on a distracted driver. No one can say exactly how many of them were caused by drivers who were texting at the time, but one startling study concluded that drivers who send and receive texts while behind the wheel are up to 23 times more dangerous than drunk drivers.

A recent survey by the Foundation for Traffic Safety shows that Americans are aware of the risk: 95% of us recognize that sending or receiving text messages while driving is dangerous. Yet the same study revealed that almost 70% of us had used a phone while driving within the past month. Shockingly, about one-third of all drivers in the survey admitted to “fairly often or regularly” texting while driving in the previous 30 days.

With statistics like these, it’s not at all surprising that drivers who send and receive texts get into accidents, or that these accidents can be serious and sometimes fatal. Stories regularly appear in the media reporting accidents caused by drivers who were texting. If you have been injured or someone close to you has been injured or killed in an accident that happened because a distracted driver was texting, you owe it to yourself to discuss your case with a Brooklyn attorney with experience in this kind of situation.

Witnesses to texting while driving accidents are increasingly common, and offenders sometimes admit their phone use to police after an accident. When it’s not this easy, other details might suggest that the driver was texting, such as:

– Failure to brake before impact

– Causing a rear-end collision

– Drifting across lanes or onto shoulders or sidewalks

– Unsafe lane changes

– Ignoring clearly visible signs and signals

– Inconsistent speed or sudden acceleration or deceleration

Find a Brooklyn Lawyer for your Texting While Driving Case

If a texting while driving accident has changed your life, your top priority will be your recovery. That’s why it can be so important to have the right team to help you with the rest of the details, such as accident investigation, forms and other paperwork, and the legal process. Let Kuharski, Levitz, & Giovinazzo review your case today.